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During the contraction phase of an acute infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, the authors found that virus-specific CD8+ T cells within the splenic red pulp had higher two-dimensional effective affinity than those within the white pulp. [Immunity]
Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Scientists report that tissue-resident memory CD8+ T (CD8 TRM) cells established by ‘prime and pull’ method confer protection against genital HSV-2 infection, and that IFN-γ produced by CD8 TRM cells is required for this protection. [Nat Commun]
Full Article

The authors investigated if prior immunization with trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) enhanced disease upon A(H1N1)pdm09 infection in mice. They found that A(H1N1)pdm09 infection in TIV-immunized mice did not enhance the disease, as measured by morbidity and mortality. [Sci Rep]
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Researchers generated and evaluated the in vivo efficacy of a novel, synthetic, DNA vaccine targeting the pre-membrane+envelope proteins (prME) of Zika virus (ZIKV). Following initial in vitro development and evaluation studies of the plasmid construct, mice and non-human primates were immunized with this prME DNA-based immunogen through electroporation-mediated enhanced DNA delivery. [npj Vaccines]
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HIV infection is persistent in the CNS, to evaluate the compartmentalization of the CNS immune response to HIV, scientists compared soluble markers of cellular immunity in the blood and CSF among HIV− and HIV+, as well as among HIV participants with or without CSF pleocytosis. [J Neuroimmunol]
Abstract

The authors highlight the promise of recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated antibody delivery for the prevention or treatment of HIV infection in humans, but they also discuss the obstacles that will need to be understood and solved in order for the promise of this approach to be realized. [Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev]
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency, has adopted a positive opinion on the company’s Marketing Authorization Application for Vemlidy® 25 mg, an investigational, once-daily tablet for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in adults and adolescents. [Gilead Sciences, Inc.]
Press Release

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that AbbVie has published high SVR12 rates across all major chronic hepatitis C virus genotypes with 8 weeks of treatment with its investigational, pan-genotypic regimen consisting of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir. [Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.]
Press Release

Integrated BioTherapeutics announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. whereby Emergent will gain exclusive rights to use IBT’s proprietary vaccine antigens and know-how in a joint research, development, and manufacturing collaboration focused on an equine-based hyperimmunoglobulin for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever caused by Filoviruses. [Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)]
Press Release

In order to reduce its perpetual gender imbalance—87% of its 556 members are men—the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences seeks to recruit ten new members in 2017 and six more in 2018, all with two X chromosomes. [ScienceInsider]
Editorial

At a time when public mistrust of science runs high, and non-experts are hard-pressed to separate fact from industry-sponsored spin, Sense About Science, a charity based in London with an affiliate in New York, presents itself as a trustworthy arbiter. The organization purports to help the misinformed public sift through alarmist claims about public health and the environment by directing journalists, policymakers, and others to vetted sources who can explain the evidence behind debates about controversial products like e-cigarettes and flame retardants. [The Intercept]
Editorial

A Chinese group has become the first to inject a person with cells that contain genes edited using the revolutionary CRISPR–Cas9 technique. A team led by oncologist Lu You at Sichuan University in Chengdu delivered the modified cells into a patient with aggressive lung cancer as part of a clinical trial at the West China Hospital, also in Chengdu. The move by Chinese scientists could spark a biomedical duel between China and the United States. [Nature News]
Editorial

Rwanda has made major public-health strides since the country’s genocide against the Tutsi people ended in June 1994, but declines in foreign aid now threaten that progress. Donors such as the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have reduced assistance to Rwanda by 40% over the past three years, jeopardizing advances in a country seen as a development success story. [Nature News]
Editorial